Getting Clear on Your Business and Life Goals
If there’s one thing that keeps people stuck, it’s a lack of clarity. Without clarity, it’s hard to take action and make progress. That’s why having clear, powerful goals is so important—they provide direction and help you move forward.
Before you can start setting goals, you need to have a clear vision for your company. What does it stand for, and what does it want to accomplish? Once you have a good idea of what your company is striving for, you can start to focus on specific goals that will help it reach its vision.
With the right goals in place, your business can take off like a rocket. But how do you go about setting and achieving goals that will help your company grow?
"A year from now you may wish you had started today."
-Karen Lamb
Setting the right goals for your business is essential for driving growth and success. Achieving these goals, however, requires more than just ambition; it requires a comprehensive plan that outlines how the goals will be implemented and tracked. Businesses should ensure that their goals are realistic, measurable, and time-bound to increase the likelihood of success.
It is a good idea for businesses to set goals because it means thinking about what the business wants to achieve in the short term and long term. Having goals provides a clear plan for the future and helps the business succeed.
Setting Goals that Resonate with You
Just as important as having a clear vision is choosing the right goals for your business. There’s no point in setting lofty goals if they’re out of reach – make sure your goals are achievable but still challenging. And remember: every goal needs a corresponding timeline and action plan.
Consider what is most important to you when you set goals. What do you hope to achieve? How can this be done?
You may want to leave your current job for the freedom of self-employment, but don’t know where to start. Or maybe you’re looking for a better work-life balance. Either way, setting goals that resonate with your desired outcome can help you focus and move closer to achieving it.
Creating a Goal-Setting Plan
Once you have identified what you want, the next step is to create a plan of action. Think about what tasks will need to be done to reach your goal. What resources do you need? How much time can you commit to the goal each day or week? Having a plan of action will help you stay on track and keep focused.
Making Your Goals Attainable
When setting goals, it’s important to make sure they are realistic and achievable. It’s easy to get caught up in wanting everything right away, but setting realistic goals that you can commit to is key.
Staying Motivated
Staying motivated is crucial for achieving your goals. Dedicate time each day to take action on something related to your goal. Making small progress every day will help you stay focused and keep going when times get tough.
Your goals must inspire you to keep going, even when it is hard. Make sure that your goals are challenging, but still something that you can do. It is more important to focus on making progress toward your goal little by little, rather than only thinking about the result.
Whatever your goals, make sure they resonate with you on an emotional level—not just because it’s what other people think is best for you. The more passionate you are about a goal, the easier it will be to stay focused and motivated. With clarity, dedication, and a plan of action, your business can reach its goals faster than you think.
Creating Actionable and Achievable Goals
Once you have identified your goals, create specific action steps to help you move forward. This will make it easier to take action and track your progress. Make sure that the goals you set are achievable, and break them down into smaller steps or milestones if needed.
Getting Unstuck with Accountability
Even with a clear plan in place, sometimes it can be hard to stay motivated and on track. You want to take an exotic vacation, but you aren’t sure where to go—or how to make it happen.
You want to grow your business but aren’t even sure what that means. Setting goals without creating corresponding accountability networks will result in little to no progress being made.
Formal or informal groups of people who are committed to achieving company goals can help keep everyone on track and motivate each other to achieve even greater success.
(Check out The Business Implementor Zone to find out about how I can help you with accountability) The truth is, with ambiguous “goals”, in five or ten years, you’ll still be stuck right where you’re at today. But with a little clarity, you can achieve any goal you can conceive—and even some you cannot yet dream of. And the first step is to simply visualize what you want
Celebrate your accomplishments
It doesn’t matter how much progress you make toward your business goals if you don’t actually celebrate your successes along the way! Reward systems that encourage positive reinforcement can help keep employees motivated and focused throughout the process of achieving success.
"The real value of setting and achieving goals lies not in the rewards you receive but in the person you become as a result of reaching your goals."
- Robin Sharma
Can you see your business's success?
Creating a vision board is a great way to manifest the goals you want to achieve in business. By visualizing your goals, you can create a roadmap for success and stay motivated in achieving them. Whether it’s a physical board or one created digitally, every successful businessperson should use a vision board as a planning tool to reach their objectives. With this tool, you can create better focus and clarity on the steps you need to take to achieve your desired outcome.
"You never know what's around the corner. It could be everything. Or it could be nothing. You keep putting one foot in front of the other, and then one day you look back, and you've climbed a mountain."
-Tom Hiddleston
How Vision Boards Work
A vision board is a planning tool that allows you to unleash your creativity and daydream in a tangible format. By collecting images that represent your biggest goals and keeping them within sight, you’ll be better able to focus on the next steps to take to reach them.
Not only that, but vision boards can serve to keep you inspired when boredom strikes (as it inevitably will), and remind you of why you’re working so hard when all you want to do is take a nap.
How to Make a Vision Board
Creating a vision board is easy—and fun! You can create yours with paper and other art materials, or digitally using one of many online apps, Pinterest, or even Microsoft OneNote or Evernote. While digital boards are more portable, physical boards are often more inspiring. There’s just something about engaging all your senses that makes a tangible vision board more effective.
To create your board, start by collecting images that represent your biggest goals and dreams. Photos from a favorite family holiday or celebration, the transformation you want to help people achieve, that change you want to see in the world, even just being able to go for dinner at a fancy restaurant, or even a dollar figure representing your desired bank account balance are all good ways to visualize your goals. Add them to your new vision board.
Next, be sure to include phrases and quotes that inspire you and keep you going even when things get tough. Sometimes a few words of wisdom from someone you admire is all it takes to get you back on track after a rough spot.
The goals you set for your business and your life should probably be intertwined. This could leave you a little confused about which category those goals belong in. The truth is that as a business owner you have a responsibility to keep your hope and dreams present and active.
By being authentic and staying true to your values, you inspire those around you and create a meaningful culture for others to emulate.
When you live your truth and stay true to your goals- both personal and professional- those around you will trust and respect you more. Maintaining these honest relationships with the people in your life creates a domino effect of success.
Finally, remember this: Your vision board is a living document. Your dreams and goals will change. Some you will achieve and remove from your board to make room for bigger and better dreams. Some you will decide don’t matter so much anymore, and you’ll trade them for some others. It’s your vision, and it’s completely up to you what dreams you choose to follow—just be sure that you do follow them.
